A TD is calling for the redress scheme for homeowners and farmers who have mica blocks in their homes and farm buildings.
Independent TD Michael Fitzmaurice has urged the government to “show decency and compassion and move to immediately resolve the mica scandal”.
“People are being victimised twice by the state. The first transgression occurred when lax regulation saw inferior blocks being sold in what was considered to be a government-regulated industry,” he argued.
“The second transgression is the decision to only offer a 90% redress scheme.
“This is not just a fiscal issue. It is a humanitarian matter. The mental health of affected families has been seriously compromised,” he stressed.
Fitzmaurice added: “Ordinary decent homeowners are now being effectively forced to foot the bill for the incompetence of their masters. Pensioners are facing years of penury and families are facing bankruptcy.”
“A family home should be a place of security rather than a living nightmare.”
“The government should act with the same speed they displayed with their banker friends when they bailed them out. Homeowners with mica want a hand up, not a bailout,” he remarked.
During the summer, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue said that homes would be the priority under the redress scheme, rather than farm structures.
The defective blocks were used to construct thousands of homes in the northwest of the country.
The government has not yet given a commitment to a full, 100% redress scheme. Minister McConalogue – who is from one of the worst-impacted areas of Donegal – said: “I will do all that I can to deliver 100% redress.”
He added that he believed that support is there from his Cabinet colleagues for this and that the best place for him to achieve the outcome that people want is to be present at the cabinet table.